


The Kids Aren't Alright

by yummy_cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Hurt Dean Winchester, M/M, Minor Violence, Protective Dean Winchester, Younger Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3237659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yummy_cas/pseuds/yummy_cas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cas moved in next door, Dean never expected to meet the love of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Kids Aren't Alright

The Kids Aren't Alright

Dean  
The moving trucks were loud outside of their house. Dean was worried they might disrupt Sam from his homework, but the kid had his headphones in. He put down the milk he was going to pour on his brother’s favorite cereal and went over to take a peek out of the window. The house next to theirs had been empty since they had moved here 5 years ago. All Dean could see was the truck. As it was obstructing his view from any further observations, he turned with a sigh and went back to preparing Sam’s cereal.

“Do you know who’s moving in next door?” His 10-year-old brother asked, taking out his ear buds. He had obviously given up on his math homework, and was looking for something to distract himself with.

“No idea.” Dean brought the cereal to where Sam was sitting at the table staring dejectedly at his work. “Do you need help?” he asked sitting down. He was never that good at math, but Sam couldn’t have been doing anything too hard.

“You’re terrible at-” Sam's words were cut off by the sound of knocking at the front door. Out of habit, Dean pushed Sam back and made his way to the door. He slowly lifted the latch lock, and inched the door open, just enough to get a look at who was there. When he noticed it was nothing but a boy, who couldn’t have been older than 14 awkwardly standing there; he let his guard down a bit. After Dean had the door wide open, the boy looked up at him with wide, blue eyes.

“Oh, um, Hi.” The boy mumbled, looking anywhere but at Dean. His cheeks flushed as he took a step back, “I, um, well my brothers and I just moved in next door, and um, well, I was just wondering, if, um, I could maybe use your bathroom, please?” He wrung his hands as he waited for Dean to reply. Before deciding whether or not he should let him into his home; Dean took a moment to inspect the boy stood in front of him. He was tall, but shorter than Dean’s 6’1 stature. He had jet-black hair, which contrasted harshly against his pale skin and baby-blue eyes.

The boy cleared his throat, and Dean snapped out of his thoughts; realizing he had been staring at this stranger for more than what is normally considered socially acceptable. “Sorry, yeah, sure, come in.” He replied letting him in the house; seeing that he was no threat towards Sam. He led the boy to the bathroom and went back to sit in the kitchen with Sam, and when the boy returned, he uttered a quiet thank you and was on his way towards the front door.

He was gone before Dean could even ask his name. His brother sat up in his seat, eyes bright, “Who was that?” Sam asked, his cereal now as insignificant as his math homework.  
“I don’t know” Dean replied, “but it doesn’t matter, do your homework.” Sam made sounds of protest, but he ended up doing it, as he always does. Once he was finished he went into the family room across the kitchen to watch TV. Dean went back to the window, hoping to just maybe catch a glimpse of that boy again, but turned back to his brother after just getting another sight of the moving truck.

Headlights illuminated the room through the window, indicating their father was home. “Sam, why don’t you go and get ready for bed?” But as Dean looked towards where his brother had been watching TV, he found that he had already gone up the stairs. Dean hurried to the kitchen to make sure it was clean, when he felt the bang of the front door hitting the wall, and the slam as it was forcefully closed.

“Hey dad” Dean said softly, hoping his father was in a good mood, which so rarely was the case anymore. His father grumbled in return and made his way to the family room, and flipped on the television.

“Well, don’t just stand around.” His father growled out, “Go and get me a damn beer!” Dean turned and hurried into the kitchen. He went to the fridge and grabbed his father a beer, but by the time he got back, his father was already unconscious. Dean knew better than to disturb him, so he switched off the TV, put the beer down, and headed up to bed. With a quick check in on Sam, he went into his small room. A closet would be a more accurate description. Dean didn’t care. Privacy carried a greater importance than comfort, in his mind. With his brother sound asleep in the room next door to his own and his father downstairs, Dean fell into a peaceful sleep.

Castiel

Castiel was not shy. He was just wary of new people. So when his brothers told him to go use the bathroom at the house next to theirs, he was not scared to ask. He was just nervous. Though the taunting from his brothers did eventually get him across the lawn, and at the door, he wasn’t quite sure what he should do next. All he could seem to do was stand there frozen. Eventually his need to pee surpassed his anxiety towards knocking, and his arm rose without his permission, and his knuckles rapped against the door. He waited a few moments, and much to his relief, it seemed as if no one was home. But as he was about turn and leave, the door opened just a crack. Castiel looked at the guy who opened the door, and his heart stopped.

“Oh, um hi,” he tried to say, but his nerves made him incoherent, and he just looked down at the ground, a hard blush painting his cheeks. He took a quick look back up at the boy in front of him, and he could feel his cheeks heat up impossibly more. He was absolutely gorgeous. Though, he was staring at him with intensity in his green eyes that made Castiel all the more uncomfortable. He began to shuffle his feet as he mumbled “I, um, well my brothers and I just moved in next door, and um, well, I was just wondering, if, um, I could maybe use your bathroom, please?” He tried to look this beautiful stranger in the eyes but his own remained glued to his hands. For a few moments the boy who had opened the door stood silently and Castiel could only wait helplessly, until finally he cleared his throat. Hoping he might get the stranger to say something.

“Sorry, yeah, sure, come in”, the stranger's cheeks slightly turned red and Castiel looked at the ground. The boy stepped out of the way, allowing Castiel inside, and led him to a small door down the entryway hall. As he walked, Castiel took a couple seconds to look around, and realized that this home was almost an exact mirror image of his own house. The living room was to the left as soon as you walk in, kitchen adjacent, and stairs at the end of the hallway. Except, this place felt cozy. Like a home was supposed to feel.  
Nothing like the places he had lived, or now inhabited for that matter. Never being in the same place for more than six months at a time was hard enough, but never knowing anyone, or being able to make friends. Most would be able to shake that off, and know that they had family and a home to go back to. Castiel may have had a 'family' or some crude version of one, but he had never had a home. He had an idea on what it was supposed to be like, how it was supposed to make you feel. Which is why walking through this stranger's home was so appealing to him, yet made his skin crawl all the same.

He nodded his thanks to the boy as he opened the door to the bathroom and stepped in. He did his business and as he was washing his hands, he caught a view of the wall behind him in the mirror. It was covered in what was probably hundreds of pictures. Most of them were of the boy who answered the door, and what appeared to be his younger brother. A few held the pictures of a man and woman, most likely his parents.

With one last glance in the mirror, Castiel dried his hands on the towel hanging on the wall and hurried down the hall he came through. He saw the boy in the kitchen, sitting at the table with the other kid from in the pictures. “Thanks.” He meant to say to the actual guy who had let him in his house, but instead was directed towards his hands. He left through the front door and of course he would trip over his own feet half way across the lawn. His entire body burned with red-hot embarrassment as he made his way back over to his house.

“Was that so bad?” Beau, the oldest of the three boys mockingly asked him as soon as he was through the front door. He was putting what little dishware they owned away in the cabinets on the wall above the counter. Castiel just glared at him with as much force that he could muster at the moment. His brother looked like he might actually apologize for being such a jerk for once in his life, but he instead turned back around to what he was doing before Castiel had come in, like he hadn’t even seen him in the first place. And Castiel couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed. Castiel snorted, and the familiar bitterness began to ache through his body, as he moved to go upstairs.

Castiel slammed his door shut. “Knock it off!” He could hear Michael shout through the thin walls of the house. He sat on the mattress the older boys had put onto the floor for him. Leaning back and closing his eyes, Castiel tried to take a nap. They had spent the whole night driving up from Florida, and all afternoon putting away their belongings. And then of course there was that whole fiasco with meeting his new (extremely attractive) neighbor. Castiel was exhausted.

Not even after ten minutes his older brother, Gabriel, barging into his room, and jumping on top of him, startled Castiel out of his daze. “Dinner’s here.” He laughed as Castiel struggled beneath him.

“Get off me!” He whined to no avail. Gabriel just laughed harder and bounced up and down a few times.

Only when Michael agitatedly yelled up the stairs for them to “hurry up or else!” did Gabriel get up.

“So did you meet the new neighbors? Were they old people? Oh man, that’s going to suck.” He kept pestering Castiel till they got to the kitchen where the aroma of the Chinese food Michael had ordered as drifting from. They both got plates and sat at the table where all of the food was. Michael was at the head of the table.

“I got both of you registered and ready to go to school tomorrow.” Michael began, but was stopped short by Gabriel's protests.

“Dude, we just got here! Let us at least adjust” Gabriel began, but was reduced to quiet grumbles by the glare coming from Michael.

Castiel just looked at his food, knowing there was no point in arguing with his eldest brother. Nothing ever went his way anyhow. After dinner, Michael went to bed; he had to be at work early the next morning. Gabriel went to go watch TV, but seeing that the cable had not yet been turned on just sat there and flipped through one of his magazines. As per usual, Castiel was stuck with the dishes and taking out the trash. 

Darkness had just begun to settle over the little neighborhood, but mid September nights in Pennsylvania were nice enough to not need a coat as he went out to put the bag in the can outside his house. With a dull clang, Castiel threw the bag in, and looked up to the sky. Stars poked out through the blackness of the sky and the full moon bathed his street in soft light in place of the absent street lamps. The enchantment was broken when a car rumbled down the street and into the driveway next his own. Castiel watched as a scruffy man stumbled inside the house next to his own, and Castiel scurried inside. Gabriel had left the living room by the time he had gotten back inside.

Castiel finished up the dishes and went back up to his room. He shed his clothes and maneuvered himself into a comfortable position on the old mattress, and stared up at the vast empty blackness above him till sleep finally overtook him.

Dean

Dean was pulled into consciousness three hours before his alarm set for six. The old house creaked around him, his father’s snores droned through the thin walls, and the moon shone in through the little round window in the far end of the room. He knew he should go back to sleep or he’d be exhausted at school. Not that that particularly mattered to him, but he needed to be alert if Sam was to need anything. But his body was thrummed with energy.

He gave up after about an hour of tossing and turning and even counting sheep. He was going to start reading a book he had to have done for English, but decided it was late enough to get in the shower. He inched his ancient door open, not wanting to awaken his slumbering little brother, and padded gently on the old wood flooring to the only shower in the house at the end of the narrow hallway.

When he got into the small bathroom that was practically unable to accommodate a person of his size, he turned the shower on, turning the knob all the way to the hottest setting. He shed his sleep clothes, discarding them in the corner by the door. He turned to face the mirror hanging on the wall.

His green eyes were underlined in purple from his lack of sleep. Only made more prominent by the glowing fluorescent light illuminating the room. Steam began to pool in the corners of the mirror and Dean got into the shower, hissing when the scalding liquid fell upon his skin. He stepped out from under the spray and turned down the heat. He hadn't realized how tense he was until he felt himself loosen under the soothing droplets of warm water raining down on him. And when he closed his eyes all that he saw was a wide blue stare and messy black hair.

The sun had begun to poke through the houses by the time he was back in his room, and with a glance at his bedside clock, Dean saw that it was just shy of six. Deciding it was time to get Sam up, knowing he'd want to take a shower before school. He quickly threw on a clean pair of underwear, and jeans and a t-shirt from the mess of them on his floor.

With a light tap on his door, Dean opened and poked his head into the room, “Sammy?” he whispered softly. He walked over to the bed and gently shook the ten year old awake. With a groan and a swat at his big brother, Sam dutifully got out of the bed and made his way over to the bathroom. Dean chuckled after the kid, and went down to make them breakfast.

Sam came down fresh faced and fully clothed at 6:40, just as Dean was about to go out the door to catch the bus to school. “ Have a nice day,” his brother said to him while he was getting a plate of eggs and a glass of orange juice. Dean smiled at him.

“ Yeah, you too, dude.”

His quarter mile trek to the bus stop was peaceful in the cool, late September morning. With a light breeze blowing in his face and AC/DC, pounding out of his ear buds. He would have never noticed the boy who not even 24 hours ago had been shuffling on his doorstep, mumbling about using his restroom, had he not come up behind him and tapped him on his shoulder.

Now, obviously Dean was quite surprised when this happened, so when he whirled around to face his supposed attacker, it took every ounce of restraint not to kill the poor kid upon realizing who it was. He stared at his assailant, and big blue eyes and wild black hair stared right back at him. Realizing that the boy must have been waiting for Dean to remove his ear buds, he paused his music, wrapped the cord around his phone and put it into his backpack. He turned back towards the boy and noticed that his eyes had gravitated toward the ground.

“ Hey,” Dean smiled at the boy, hoping as not to scare him away again.

“ Oh Hey!” He suddenly looked up as if he had forgotten Dean was there. “ I, uh, was just wondering if you, uh might know when it is the bus usually comes?” His eyes again, looking everywhere but at Dean himself.

“ Usually 6:50, the school is only a 15 minute drive from here, but were the first stop there, and the last one back.” Dean tried to look into the boy’s eyes as he spoke to him, but they were plastered to the ground.

“ Thanks.” he looked up again, and then turned away to wait for the bus. The rumbling came right on schedule as the old machine worked its way down the cracked road. Both boys climbed onto the vehicle, and Dean made his way to his usual seat in the back, while the other boy plopped down right behind the driver. Dean could see him fidgeting his hands in the overhead mirror, a light blush still dusting his cheeks, and the more Dean stared, the more adorable he found it.

30 minutes later found them at school, and Dean made his way to his homeroom. The announcements began to sound through the PA system, and when some girls to the left of him began to squeal when the topic of homecoming came up, Dean zoned out the rest. It wasn’t until 4th period chemistry that Dean was snapped back into reality. There in front of the classroom, talking to the teacher was none other than the boy! He watched as the teacher told him to pick a seat, and he nervously glanced around the room. Dean doesn't know whether he does it out of pity or curiosity, but he waves the boy over to the empty desk next to his in the back of the room.

The boy sags with relief and quickly makes his way over to his new spot. As the teacher begins to talk about whatever it is they had been learning about, Dean turns to his new neighbor. 

" I don't believe we've been formally introduced," he says with his sweetest smile, "my name's Dean." And just to make that always prevalent blush Dean loves so much even stronger, he throws in a wink at the end. 

The boy next to him is stunned into silence for a few moments before he regains his composure and replies, " I'm Castiel." He appears like he is trying to look at Dean but for some reason can't, and Dean doesn't know what that means.

It goes on like that for weeks before Castiel finally cracks, and becomes comfortable around Dean. He begins to open up to him. He tells him about how his parents died in a car crash when he was little, and had been moving from state to state with his brothers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" I'm sorry" Dean had said, " my mom's dead too."

"Really?" Castiel had asked, a sadness lurking in his eyes Dean never wanted to see again.

" Yeah, lung cancer, about seven years ago. Sammy was still so young, he barely remembers her. Dad never really got over it." Dean's voice turning to venom when the topic of his father came up. "Bastard spends half of his time asleep and the other half drinking."

"At least you have a dad." And Dean didn't know what to say to that.

The two boys became close in school, and while Dean would have loved to continue to build a stronger bond outside of it, Castiel refused to let Dean over to his house, or to go over to his.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I was thinking you could come over for a study date tonight?" Dean had wanted to hang out alone with Castiel for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity. Plus, Castiel was really smart, and Dean could use the help. But when Castiel refused, he couldn't help but feel hurt and a bit betrayed. Castiel had to know Dean had feelings for him by now. Had he been playing along just for kicks?

"Dean." He had said, trying to get him to focus on him. " It's not that I don't want to do or that I don't feel that way about you, because I do, trust me, I do." The sincerity in the boy's blue eyes made him want to kiss him right there. But he was still confused.

"Then why-"

"Because my older brother is like extremely homophobic. He would literally kill you, and then me if he thought anything was going on between us, and I don't want to run that risk. Because I actually really like you, Dean."

Tears glistened in Castiel's eyes and Dean wants to wrap him in his arms, and protect him from any harm.

Instead he whispered, "I understand" and turned back towards the front of the room.

Now of course that left Dean with a bit of a dilemma. How was he supposed to give the boy he loved everything he deserved when his older brother was a complete ass? And then it came to him.

Castiel

Of the happiest moments in his life, Dean admitting to liking him and then proceeding to ask him out had to be his favorite. And he wanted to say yes, god knows he did, but if his brother were to find out... Well, he didn't even want to think of what would happen. So when he came into class Monday, and took his seat next to him, Castiel could barely look at the boy. 

"Hey" Dean had said sweetly, giving him a soft smile, "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted on Friday. It was childish for me to get upset at you for something like that. I mean, my dad's always been one to crack jokes about stuff like that, and would definitely give me a beating if I were to bring home my boyfriend. So, I wanted to make it up to you," and if Castiel could not possibly hold more love for the boy in front of him, he would have died, because out from his binder Dean pulled two homecoming tickets and blushed as he said " I know you said your brother would kill you, but just tell him you're going with a girl. I want to be able to show the boy I love at least one night of romance."

Castiel's eyes burned with tears and his body ached with all the emotions running rampant throughout it. "Oh Dean," he choked back on the threatening tears and leaned over to press a kiss on to the unsuspecting boys lips. "Of course I'll go with you." 

But nothing ever goes the way it's supposed to, and when Castiel told his brother he was going to homecoming, he wanted to know with whom he was going with, who was going to be there, how many chaperones, and Castiel almost began to regret his decision. But every time an ounce of doubt made its way into the back of his mind, Castiel just remembered the way Dean's eyes lit up after he kissed. How he had promised to make a night he would remember. How he promised that no matter what ended up happening he'd still love Cas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday came around sooner than expected, and while Castiel couldn't wait to spend the night with Dean; he also wanted to throw up from the anxiety that had been building up all week. 

"Do you need to go get this girl or what?" Michael asked as Castiel was eating a quick meal before he had to leave. 

He hesitated for a moment and replied, "no, her mom is dropping her off there, and I'm just going to meet her in front of the school. We're really just going as friends." Michael eyed him suspiciously but just turned with a sigh and went into the living room to watch TV with Gabriel.

At 7 Castiel and Michael got into the old Buick they'd had forever and made their way over to the school. Michael only spoke once they got to school and Castiel was about to get of the car. "Stay safe." He warned, "I'll be here at exactly 9:30. Don't keep me waiting." Then he drove off. Sighing, Castiel turned away from the parking lot and looked up at the old school. The nights had started getting colder and Castiel could almost see his breath in the dim light of the street lamp above him. He was about to walk in when something grabbed him from behind and restrained him from moving. He would have let out a shout for help had he not recognized the familiar chuckle into his hair.

"You look beautiful." Dean whispered when he turned Castiel around to face him. Dean looking rather sharp himself.

"Thank you." The red tint to his cheeks was unseen thanks to the darkness surrounding them. He leaned up to press a kiss to the older boys cheek and they then went inside the building. While unbeknownst to anyone an old Buick sat idling in the parking lot to the side of them.

When Michael didn't show up at 9:30, Castiel wasn't all too worried. But nothing would have been able to bring him down from this high. He had just spent two hours with Dean wrapped around him, and he was on top of the world. At 9:49 however he realized how unlike his brother it was to forget to pick him up. Luckily Dean had refused to leave till he had seen that Castiel had a ride home, and when Castiel asked for a ride home he actually bowed and said "of course, your majesty" with that damn smirk on his face. Then laughed and pecked Castiel's pouting lips. The bastard. When they reached his driveway, Castiel had almost forgotten about his brother entirely. 

"Thanks." He softly said, and then exited the car. Dean stayed in his driveway until he saw Castiel get into the house. When Castiel saw Michael sitting at the kitchen table, under replaced his bliss.

" Hey man, what the hell? You said 9:30!" But as Michael continued to do nothing but stare past him Castiel's anger quickly evaporated, and his heart began to pound for a completely different reason. It wasn't till then that Castiel noticed the cabinets were all open. And every single one was empty.

"Michael?" He whimpered.

"Were you planning on telling me you decided to become a fag?" Castiel flinched at the word. He opened his mouth to respond, but Michael beat him to it. "I saw you at the school with that other one." His voice gaining volume with every word. "I don't care what you have to say for yourself, you're disgusting and lucky I'm even -"

"Michael you don't-"

"Don't interrupt me!" He yelled, coming across the room. Castiel stood taller as his brother approached but fell to the ground when he felt the force of Michael's hand hitting his cheek. The sound echoed around the empty house. “ Get up, you piece of shit” he seethed. But Castiel didn't move. 

“ I said get up!” And with that Michael grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him out to the packed car. Now, Castiel began to panic.

“ What are you doing?” He screeched, “ Where are you taking me? Let go!” Castiel struggled against the strong grip, but Michael only held him tighter.

“ We’re leaving this place, and that dirty faggot you’ve been whoring around with.” Michael threw him into the back seat and got into the drivers seat. Gabriel was sitting passenger, and acting as if Castiel wasn't even there.

Dean

When Dean got home the house was silent. He slipped off his shoes and went up his room, removing his clothes and sinking into his bed a smile on his face. Dean fell into a peaceful sleep. When he noticed Cas wasn't at the bus stop, he wasn't too worried; his brother may have just taken him to school, or he just slept in. It wasn't until 4th period and Castiel didn't show up that Dean got confused and his heartbeat began to speed up. When he got home, he went straight over to Castiel’s house. At first he knocked on the door and pressed the doorbell, and when he noticed the bare green walls and dull wood flooring, Dean began to panic. He pounded on the heavy wooden door, hoping someone, anyone, would come to the door. Its okay, he said to himself, they probably just took a trip to see family back in Florida. Cas will come back. That’s all that got him through that week. And the next one. And the next one. Dean refused to believe the boy he loved was gone. It wasn’t true. It wasn’t fair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was normal for Dean to wake up in the middle of the night, or in this case, three o'clock in the morning. The edge he’d been on since Castiel had left seemed to never leave him. He sat and felt the throbbing pain in his head, the burning in his throat, as images of soft blues eyes and pale skin with pink cheeks stained his mind, but he refused to let the tears fall. He opened his door and walked down to the bathroom to take a shower. He turned the heat all the way up. Dean stepped out of the clothes he had passed out in the previous night, and stared blankly at the mirror. When the steam began to suffocate him, Dean went into the shower. He sat on the floor of the tub, directly beneath the numbing spray and stared at the cracked, yellow tiles in front of him, until the water ran cold.


End file.
